Bookkeeper Who Stole Near $10M to Gamble Sentenced to Federal Prison

H.Y.A., 58, will have to serve 51 months in a federal prison over her misappropriation of company funds running up to $9.8 million, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida said on Thursday.

The sentencing comes after prosecutors proved and a court found H.Y.A. guilty of wire fraud and filing a false income tax return, demonstrating that the culprit had indeed stolen from clients. H.Y.A. owned and operated Accounting Solutions Today, P.A., and was a bookkeeper at the victim company, where she (the perpetrator) had signature authority over the firm’s bank accounts.

This allowed H.Y.A. to embezzle as much as $9.8 million in the short span of six years, with the money going unnoticed. Investigators found that the money had been used to fund the perpetrator’s gambling habit.

Embezzled Money Was Splurged on Land-Based and Online Gambling

Before authorities captured her, and long before her sentencing, H.Y.A. had already bought a ticket to an overseas destination, hoping to escape, but she was arrested in time.

The investigators found out that H.Y.A had spent the money both at local land-based casinos as well as at online platforms that offered games of chance. To keep things under wraps, H.Y.A. would falsify records and hope that the money would not be noticed to be missing.

“This defendant betrayed the trust placed in her, stole nearly $10 million, and gambled it away. Our Office will hold accountable those who abuse positions of trust and conceal their crimes, and we will ensure victims see justice and restitution,” a statement by the prosecutor’s office read.

Despite her intention to escape, the Internal Revenue Service, which was also involved in the case, the perpetrator’s financial embezzlement scheme was caught in time, with the agency issuing a self-laudatory and punchy statement: “In this case, the defendant booked a one-way ticket overseas – but thanks to our complex financial investigation, the only one-way trip she’s taking is straight to prison.”